1. Synchronization

"I love you."

A sweet, seductive voice wraps around my ears.

Slowly, her hand approaches the nape of my neck.

Red eyes examine me. Slowly, as if savoring me.

Then she smiles brightly and bites my nape, just a little.

I feel the sensation of her teeth, which now feels familiar, and carefully stroke her hair. After staying like that for a while, she pulls her mouth away from my nape and looks up at me.

"Hey, do you love me?"

The angle of her looking up from below is violent.

Pretty. Awe comes naturally.

A beauty that no one could dare refuse.

Any man who came here wouldn't be able to help but say he loves her.

"...Yeah."

My voice trembles. The trembling I try to hide but can't spreads from my vocal cords to my throat, from my throat to my mouth, and then throughout my entire body.

"You hesitated. Liar."

She lowers her head again and buries her face deeper into my chest. Then she gets up, as if pushing me away slightly. Then she grabs both my cheeks with her hands and brings her face close. So close that I think our eyes might touch.

"But it's okay. Because I love you this much."

She looks at me, her mouth curving into a deep arc.
As expected of the Empire's greatest beauty, the one called the Flower of the Empire, it was a smile that truly made my heart flutter.

"If I die first, you're getting buried with me."

She lightly bumps her lips against mine, as if playing a prank. As if I have no right to refuse.

"If you die first, I'll pickle everything you are in solution and keep you by my side forever."

Saying that while looking straight into my eyes, at a distance where we can feel each other's breath.

My heart pounded even harder at those words.

Sweat started to trickle down my neck, and before I knew it, my hands and feet were damp.

I want to run away right now. I want to get out of here, screaming, "Fuck off, you crazy bitch." But I can't.

"I am Her Imperial Highness's. Please...."
"Shh. What did I tell you to call me?"

I stopped talking at that. The Princess in front of me looks at me with a cold, sharp, expressionless face, the smiling expression from earlier gone.

I was breathless at the sight. I messed up. I shouldn't have done that. It's okay. There's still a chance.

"...I'm yours. Does anyone ask for permission to use their own stuff?"

At my words, she finally giggles and wraps her hands around my waist.

"Right? You're mine. Forever."

The Princess looked at me, and I looked at the Princess. Seeing her this close, I'm in awe. But I shouldn't be fooled by her looks. Because she's the crazy bitch who killed me countless times.

The fact that I dated such a crazy bitch—no, that I even married her—I was really proud of myself.

"Yeah. Possess me forever."

With those words, my vision goes black.
It's over. It's finally over. This tiresome ordeal is over. Liberation.

Something appears in my vision.

[Congratulations! You have achieved a hidden achievement!]
[Achievement Unlocked: Romance with the Crazy Princess!]

Ah, I finally got this achievement.
It was long, so long. How much have I played this game based on a romance fantasy novel?

A crazy Princess who only tries to kill the protagonist from the beginning to the end of the game.
All the users prayed to be able to kill that bitch, but I, on the contrary, thought, "Couldn't I even seduce a Princess like that?"

Thus began the "Date the Crazy Princess" project.

After countless tries and bashing my head against the wall, I succeeded in dating her.

To think I succeeded in dating the crazy bitch who tried to kill me.

'Time to quit now.'

If it weren't for this, I would have quit this game a long time ago. Now that I've achieved everything, it's time to turn off the game and delete it.

I was looking at the screen with that thought when some message windows kept popping up.

[You are the first to achieve this! Rewarding you.]

[The Princess's memories are now synchronizing with the new world!]

[Synchronization takes time. Current synchronization rate 1%...]

'Synchronization? This isn't some New Game+ thing...'

At the same time, my thoughts were cut off.

The Empire is powerful.

The Empire, which unified the continent, cannot be defied or disobeyed by anyone.

Resources, talent, technology. An overwhelming power that nothing can match.

That is the Empire.

The Emperor, the strongest in such an Empire.
However, the Emperor suddenly went into seclusion for health reasons, and the current Princess Bella is ruling in his stead.

She is effectively the absolute ruler of the Empire. Rumors say the current Emperor's seclusion is also the Princess's doing.
A truly crazy bitch, the bitch every user wanted to kill.

And right now, I was in front of that Princess.

I remember. The game's beginning starts with the protagonist being punished by the Princess.
I was a fairly influential noble, but before the solemn Imperial decree, my life was like a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fly's, and I was actually thrown into prison. But the game's prologue ends with the protagonist escaping prison and moving to bring down the Empire.

'Alright.'

Then, do I just have to watch all sorts of ridiculous charges get slapped on me, get a full course of torture from the Empire's best torturers demanding I admit my guilt before being thrown into prison, rot in a cold, damp prison overflowing with bugs and rats, and then barely escape right before execution?

'Bullshit.'

If I could do that, I'd be a superhuman.
How is that possible for a modern person who was just holding a mouse in front of a computer a moment ago?

'Then is there a way?'

None. Absolutely none. When I first possessed this body, I seemed out of my mind for a while. The servants whispered that the master had gone mad, and some pitied me, saying it was the shock of my parents' passing.

'Ah, did they not pity me?'

Maybe they said I finally got divine retribution.

'Well, the protagonist is trash, anyway.'

Embezzling the territory's money to spend as he pleased, shaking down the village, assaulting servants, or inflicting bizarre humiliations if he didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠like something—he did every kind of bad thing. He's just a complete scumbag of a human being.

Thanks to that, the early difficulty is extreme. Everyone, instead of helping the scumbag protagonist, snitches and tries to kill him, so the beginning is hell itself.
Of course, I thought it didn't matter.

'How many hours did I pour into this game?'

There's a saying about the 10,000-hour rule. It means if you do anything for 10,000 hours, you reach an expert level. According to this rule, I am an expert at this game.

Even if he's trash, his status is a noble, and he's overflowing with knowledge.
I even thought it might be a gain, having transformed from a jobless, unemployed youth into a noble who knows everything.

'Master, an Imperial decree from the Imperial Palace...'

Until the crazy bitch called me.

With my head bowed, I barely moved my eyes to glance at the crazy bitch sitting on the throne above me.
A look that draws your gaze just by seeing it, vivid red eyes. It's certain. It's the crazy Princess.

"Count Haeil Cartis has insulted the Imperial family and, to embezzle property, has sickened the Empire through corruption, all sorts of irregularities, and soliciting illicit personnel appointments."

Crazy bastard. It's the body I possessed, but he really lived like trash.

"Sinner, raise your head."

I raised my head at that. And I faced the Princess who called me to this Imperial Palace. She's a bitch who tries to kill me, but she's insanely pretty. But I shouldn't be fooled by her looks.

'Crazy bitch...'

Of course, the protagonist is trash, but Princess Bella's obsession with the protagonist went beyond that.

I lowered my eyes again, afraid she might throw a fit if I glared at her.

Yeah, that bitch is the culprit. Users tried to find out why, but we could only know that something happened in the past; we couldn't know the details.

Now that bitch will smile very pleasantly and curse at me. And then she'll cheerfully order me to be thrown into prison until execution.

I've seen it thousands of times trying to seduce that crazy bitch, so I've memorized it now. Now it's definitely time for her to fly into a rage, saying I dared to insult the Empire. She'll probably hit me on the head and kick me, too.

'I won't let her get to me easily.'

I won't act out because my head could fly off right here if I do, but I'll twist my body to avoid the painful spots if she hits me. I was prepared for that, but even after waiting for a long time, the crazy Princess said nothing.

'What?'

According to the original, the Princess should be delivering a soccer kick to me by now. But she's doing nothing?

'What, what's going on?'

I'm in sinner mode with my head bowed, so I can't look around.
Eventually, unable to suppress my curiosity, I slowly raised my head.

"Gasp."

And a sound popped out of my mouth without me knowing. The crazy Princess was staring right through me. And with a very displeased expression, like she was about to kill someone right then and there.

I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flustered. What on earth is that expression?
It's an expression I've never seen even once in the game. Looking around, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the retainers are also trembling, as if they've never seen such an expression before.

'Ah, am I dying now?'

Am I dying right now?
If she's going to kill me, I hope she kills me gently. Without pain.

As I resigned myself, strange thoughts crossed my mind. At that moment, the Princess stood up.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of the Princess's footsteps echoes throughout. And she stopped right in front of me. All I can see is the Princess's shoes.

But suddenly, a snow-white, soft hand comes toward my chin. The soft touch grabbed my chin and made me lift my head.

The crazy Princess looked at me while holding my chin up.
Her expression was still a terrifying one, like she was going to kill someone.

And then she let go of my chin and spoke as if for everyone to hear.

"Forget it. It's boring. End it here."
"Y-yes?"

A retainer asked back, seemingly flustered by those words, but bowed his head at the Princess's glare.
I was flustered by this situation that just happened.

'What? What on earth is happening?'

It's a situation I've never seen in the game I played countless times. The Princess acting on such a whim and me not going to prison are both firsts.

The Princess left the room without a word.

As soon as the Princess left, the retainer said it was over, and everyone started to leave.

But I remained blankly kneeling for a long time.

'Why?'

No, more than that, what am I supposed to do now?

"What the hell is this..."

I muttered blankly, looking at the spot where the Princess had left.

.
.
.

[Synchronizing. Current Princess memory synchronization rate 2%...]